All Our Relations Artwork Installed at the Waterfront
The City of Hamilton, in partnership with local Indigenous artist Angela Montigny, glass artist Paull Rodrigue, Cobalt Connects, and the Hamilton Waterfront Trust, will unveil a massive new piece of artwork called All Our Relations today at the waterfront in Ward 2.
Not only will this be a monumental and important feature of the waterfront, for generations to come, but it signifies the City’s commitment to ensuring the work of Indigenous artists is front and centre. This work will continue in collaboration with the City’s Indigenous partners at both Macassa Bay and the Discovery Centre.
The waterfront installation is made up of five 40 foot columns - The Four Legged; Plants and Medicines; Thunderbird, Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon, Indigenous Cultural Elements; Earth Mother, Trees and The Winged Ones; and Water and Creatures that Swim - with large coloured glass beads fitted into round metal slots. For those curious, the glass is very tough, made from solid pieces (not blown), and has been tested to ensure it will last.
All Our Relations explores themes of environmental stewardship and the interdependency of all of the creatures that make up our ecosystem. I am confident it will become a site for reflection and knowledge sharing as we do the necessary work, together, of continuing to heal our lands and waters.
This work is connected to the actions outlined in the City of Hamilton’s Urban Indigenous Strategy, specifically to -
Create opportunities for public art by Indigenous artists
Bring together partners to offer public education to all residents about the history of Indigenous people and current topics that will contribute to reconciliation
Promote awareness of national holidays such as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Work with the Indigenous community to establish and maintain a piece of land that the community can use for ceremonial, spiritual and other activities
The Cobalt Connects Facebook page has some recent pictures of the installation and the process of placing the beads in the metal fittings. The work of placing the beads was done largely by volunteers, including the Ward 2 Team who took some time out of our schedule to help install beads for the Plants and Medicines panel at the end of August.
All Our Relations will be unveiled today, September 30 at 10:30am, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, following sunrise and drumming ceremonies. I’ll be on hand to give remarks on behalf of the City of Hamilton and hope to see you there.
Sidewalk Repairs Under Way Across Ward 2
As you’ve likely seen by now, especially if you’ve been out walking around in Ward 2, the City’s sidewalk repair program is in full swing. Each year, Ward Councillors have the opportunity to use a portion of the money allocated to sidewalks from the overall City budget to do full replacements of existing problem areas to make neighbourhoods safer and more walkable.
This is a critical issue in Ward 2 because of the number of major pedestrian corridors, the large number of folks with disabilities, and parents with strollers who need to get around the core. Downtown Hamilton is also a major destination not only for Hamiltonians but for visitors to our city. Ward 2 sidewalks need to be in good shape to support everyone who uses them.
When I took office in 2022, it was one of the first things I discussed with staff and, at that time, I was told that I only had access to a mere 5% of the City’s sidewalk budget, or around $90,000. I was surprised by how low the amount was and that this was all that had been invested year over year in Ward 2.
I immediately asked if there was an opportunity to top this up from other funds available to the Ward 2 office, to start to chip away at the backlog of repairs, and was told I could contribute additional funds from the Minor Maintenance Council Priority Project allocated to Ward 2 for a combined maximum of $500,000 for 2023.
So I did. After all, it was one of the priorities from my platform and something I had heard needed improvement from neighbours across Ward 2 when I was out door knocking. I know we have a long way to go to catch up, but I’m committed to doing everything I can to improve our sidewalks during this term of Council.
That being said, I know it can be tricky to get around when sidewalks are being repaired, so please plan ahead for delays and be safe out there. Repairs are currently taking place in the Beasley, Central, Corktown, Durand, and North End neighbourhoods. I’ve uploaded a few more pictures of ongoing sidewalk repairs across Ward 2 so you can see the progress being made and have prepared a spreadsheet of all the locations so you can plan accordingly.
Decisions for future repair locations in Ward 2 will likely be made either late in this year or early next year and I’d like your help with them. In the first year, City staff directed the repair locations, because of the tight timing, but told me there would be opportunities in future years for more input.
If you have suggestions for repairs in your neighbourhood, please send an email to Ward 2 Constituency Coordinator Hasnain Khan, including the name of your neighbourhood and the street address closest to the sidewalk that needs repairs, and we’ll add it to our list.
Lack of Affordability is Forcing People Out of their Homes
As I noted in the last edition of my newsletter, according to 2016 census data, 76.4% of Ward 2 residents rent their homes. In a precarious rental market, where new builds are no longer subject to rent control (thanks to Premier Doug Ford), this means thousands of downtowners fear for their ability to stay housed. To put it another way, more of our housed neighbours are becoming our unhoused neighbours.
Even for those who currently own their home in Ward 2, things are tough. The cost of living is not keeping up with wages. As reported by the CBC this year, folks who have mortgages will expect to see major increases to interest payments through 2026 and many will be forced to renew their mortgages during a time when interest rates have nearly doubled.
No, this isn’t the 80s, where we saw double digit interest rates, but with the disproportionate rise in housing prices, the costs are deeply concerning and it’s almost a certainty that some homeowners will be pushed out of ownership and will be searching for housing in a hostile rental market.
And while the City is working on a Housing Sustainability Investment Roadmap, including programs to invest in more not for profit co-ops and purchase existing rental housing when it comes on the market, we’re not going to get very far relying on municipal resources alone. Simply put, this is a crisis that requires investment from the Federal and Provincial governments.
As my colleague, Ward 1 City Councillor Maureen Wilson recently wrote in her newsletter, “We cannot solve this problem by relying solely on local resources. Hamiltonians simply cannot be asked to provide the kind of investment needed to address a problem that all three levels of government have created through their policies and actions over many years.”
My colleagues and I regularly hear from people who have no stable housing and are looking for help accessing it, often seniors with disabilities who are facing the threat of eviction. The nameless and faceless statistics that represent a steady increase in the unhoused population are increasingly made up of people who in fact have names, faces, and even recent addresses.
In many cases, they’ve lived in their units for decades and have been forced or priced out of their units and have nowhere else to go. As I heard when I knocked on doors during the election campaign - people feel stuck. They’re worried about voicing concerns for fear of being evicted under threat of renovations to their unit or demolition of their building. Council has supported new bylaws to address evictions by renovation (renovictions), but they’re years away from having a meaningful impact.
Meanwhile, once residents are evicted, they’re forced to reenter a housing market that is completely unaffordable. This is much worse for those who access programs like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Ontario Works (OW), or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) - programs that have not even come close to keeping up with the cost of the basics like housing and food.
Even someone working at minimum wage will spend well over half their income on a one bedroom apartment, when it should be a maximum of 30% of their income, at an average and rising cost of almost $1,900 a month. This isn’t sustainable.
Stories, assumptions, and stigma surround unhoused people and encampment residents but, in an increasing number of cases, these are our neighbours who have been priced out of a place to live and deprived of housing.
I spoke with some neighbours in the North End this week and when they asked where they should direct their concerns, I told them to write to the Provincial and the Federal government.
Just like with the decision around the Greenbelt, we need to rise up and let the senior levels of government know that every community in our province and our country deserves to be able to deliver housing as a human right and needs the adequate funding support to do so.
We need them to show up to the table ready to invest without question and to reign in our out of control housing markets, now.
Website Feature - Public Meetings
Our website has a new page called Public Meetings that I encourage Ward 2 residents to check out if they’re interested in seeing the work we’re doing to engage the community through Ward 2 Neighbourhood Town Halls, Meetings, and Community Councils.
So far, since I was elected, we’ve hosted 15 such events and, before the end of the year, we have another 8 scheduled, putting us at an average of about 2 per month for this year.
While most of these have been smaller meetings of up to 50 people, there have been a few larger meetings, including a hybrid meeting in September with nearly 250 in attendance and an in person meeting in the North End with a similar number of residents in attendance at the end of August.
The goal of these meetings, in 2023, is to fill some of the gaps that we couldn’t fill during the campaign, to more meaningfully connect with residents, and to begin to develop an engagement plan for 2024, 2025, and 2026 based on what we’ve learned this year. We have been listening closely to what people have to say to improve the format and ensure they meetings are as inclusive as possible.
This is a new undertaking for Ward 2 and I’m deeply thankful to the Ward 2 Team for helping to support these meetings. I look forward to seeing you soon and, once we’ve done a debrief from this year’s engagement, we’ll let everyone know what to expect for the coming years of this Council term.
Upcoming Committee and Council Decisions
This section itemizes important upcoming Committee and Council decisions in case you wish to delegate, watch a meeting live, or send in correspondence to the office of the City Clerk at clerk@hamilton.ca. They’re listed by Committee and date.
For other Committee and Council Agendas and Meeting Notices, please subscribe to “Council & Committee” updates directly through the City’s website.
Public Health Committee - Monday, October 2 - 9:30am
2023-2024 Respiratory Virus Season Update - BOH23032
Public Works Committee - Monday, October 2 - 1:30pm
Woodward Upgrades Construction Update - PW20043(d)
City of Hamilton Annual Collision Report - 2022 Statistics and Trends - PW23062
Electric Vehicle Charging Station Infrastructure - PW23064
York Boulevard / Wilson Street and James Street North Safety Review and Signalized Intersection Safety Enhancements
Planning Committee - Tuesday, October 3 - 9:30am
Application for a Zoning By-law Amendment for Lands Located at 65 Guise Street East, Hamilton - PED23201
General Issues Committee - Wednesday, October 4 - 9:30am
Parks Master Plan - PW23064
2023 Economic Development Workforce Strategy - PED23194
Audit, Finance and Administration Committee - Thursday, October 5 - 9:30am
Integrity Commissioner and Lobbyist Registrar Appointment - FCS23106
Tax and Rate Operating Budgets Variance Report as at July 31, 2023 – Budget Control Policy Transfers - FCS23063(a)
Hamilton Police Services and Hamilton Public Library Surpluses and Deficits
Upcoming Events and City Notices
For a list of City Notices directly impacting Ward 2, including encroachment applications, temporary road closures, and watermain repairs, visit our website.
All Our Relations - September 30 - 10:30am at Guise Street East and James Street North
Lifting Up Our Children - September 30 from 11:00am to 5:00pm - Gage Park
Ghost Bike Memorial Ride - October 6 - 6:00pm at West Harbour GO Station
CityHousing Hamilton Town Hall - October 7 at 11:00am - 255 King Street West - Hamilton Public Library (Wentworth Room)
Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres Annual General Meeting - October 11 at 6:00pm - Homewood Suites
Ward 2 Neighbourhood Association Council - October 17 at 7:00pm - City Hall
North End Tree Planting - October 17 - Strachan Street East
Senior of the Year Awards - October 19 at 5:00pm - Michelangelo’s
CityHousing Hamilton Town Hall - October 21 at 11:00am - 95 Hess Street South and 191 Main Street West
Updates from the Last Issue of the Ward 2 Newsletter
This section provides updates on things I wrote about in the last issue of the newsletter. The article names are the same, including links, so it’s easier to keep track of what’s new.
Draft Plan for the Tiny Shelters Pilot Coming in September
As many of you know, it was not possible for the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters (HATS) to present its draft plan for the tiny shelters project at the meeting held on September 11. At this point, it will be up to HATS to continue to engage with the North End community, to present a draft plan, implement the feedback from the community, and present a final plan in time for the project to be established this winter. This is part of their due diligence process and the conditional approval that the City has granted to them to use the Strachan Street East location. If you have questions about this process, please contact HATS directly.